Balance Experts

We have become balance experts. This week we have learned the vocabulary words: counter weight and balance point. 

Students have practiced balancing different shapes on popsicle sticks and our fingers. Today we had an extra hard experiment, when we had to find a way to balance a pencil (sharp side down) on a popsicle stick!

Syllable Sort

We have been practicing sorting words by the number of syllables. This week we made an art project out of those pesky sales ads.

Thanksgiving Story Bracelet

We've been working hard to learn the story of the first Thanksgiving. We learned that Pilgrims didn't use forks and ate off wooden plates. We also learned that there were 140 people that ate Thanksgiving together. Did you know, that along with turkey, the pilgrims and Native Americans also ate deer, fish, and mussels?  Today we made bracelets to help us remember the order of the story. Ask your child to retell the story to you using their bracelet.

I hope everyone has a great and safe Thanksgiving. I am thankful for our awesome classroom and their families! 

Senteo Response System

Today we got to use a very fun Smartboard tool. The Senteo response system is a set of clickers that students could use to answer questions from their desk. We warmed up with some easy questions. They practiced finding the correct buttons. Then is was on to review items. 100% voted YES for "Did you have fun with the clicker today?"

Tomorrow is our Write and Share day. Student who chose to complete a Quarter 1 enrichment homework project may bring it in to share TOMORROW. If your child did not complete a project, they are to bring in their favorite book. 

Gobble Gobble Turkey Patterns

We have been working on patterns this week in math. Students are asked to identify a pattern unit, as well as translate a pattern. One of our centers this week was to translate a pattern on a turkey to the feathers. The students had to figure out the pattern unit and repeat it using different color feathers.

Topple Tree

We are continuing to explore balance and motion in science. On Monday we did a few experiments with our newest classroom game.


Introducing:

Topple Tree! 

In this game players can use two different types of pieces. A straight piece or a V-shaped piece. After predicting which piece would make a more balanced tree, it was time to experiment. We recorded our observations in our science journals. 

Our tree built with straight pieces fell over on the 11th piece, while our tree built with the V-shaped pieces was still standing after all 25 were put together! 

We were even able to extend our thinking to real trees. Students noticed that many trees that fall over are the tall skinny trees, while the more balanced trees that stand through winds have lots of branches. This game will be added to our collection for students to play on Fantastic Fridays! 

Fabulous Fall!

Today during recess, the winds picked up and the leaves were falling by the masses. So what did our first graders do....

Patterns!

We had some of our favorite friends come teach us about pattern units today. Pattern units can be tricky, so it was nice for Spongebob and Patrick to help us learn this concept!

Lots of Updates!

Book Fair
- This week at Glenwood is the book fair. Stop by before or after school and check out the great books. Our class will visit the book fair on Wednesday. If your child would like to purchase a book then, please send in money.



Thanksgiving lunch
- Tomorrow is the school's Thanksgiving lunch. We would love for you to join us for a traditional Thanksgiving meal.


Write and Share Day
- Next Tuesday (November 22nd) is our write and share day. This will be a chance for students to share an Enrichment Homework project they chose to work on. If your child did not do an Enrichment Homework project, they will bring their favorite book. We will do a write and share activity on Tuesday.

Balance and Motion!

Today we began our second unit in science. We will be learning all about balance and motion.  To begin our unit today we brainstormed what we already thought we be knew about balance and motion. We recorded our ideas here:

"holds things up, makes toys, have to practice, makes things move, us your body, it's sort of like weighing it, things can be both balance and motion"

Check back for updates to "Our learning" side of the chart to see everything we discover about balance and motion. 

Shapes!

This week we are transitioning into Geometry in math. We will focus on plain and solid shapes. We will also work on comparing attributes of these shapes and solving visual/ spatial problems.

Of course we have some fun songs to help our brains remember these shapes!

Here are a few links to some shape games you can play at home! 

ABC Ya!

Sheppard Math Games

Interactive Stuff

Harcourt

Triangle Alley

More Laura Numeroff!

Laura Numeroff Author's Study

Today we read:

We also read If You Give a Pig a Pancake. It is another Numeroff Classic. After reading, we completed a Venn Diagram comparing today's story to yesterday's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.